The following U.S. Patent applications which are herein incorporated by reference are commonly owned by the Assignee of the present application:
(1) U.S. Patent Application entitled Surgical Stapling Apparatus With Load-Sensitive Firing Mechanism to Geoffrey C. Hueil et al., Ser. No. 12/031,368;
(2) U.S. Patent Application entitled Surgical Stapling Apparatus With Interlockable Firing System to Steven G. Hall et al., Ser. No. 12/031,326;
(3) U.S. Patent Application entitled Articulatable Loading Units For Surgical Stapling and Cutting Instruments to Jerome R. Morgan et al., Ser. No. 12/031,001;
(4) U.S. Patent Application entitled Surgical Stapling Apparatus With Reprocessible Handle Assembly to Kevin R. Doll et al., Ser. No. 12/030,980;
(5) U.S. Patent Application entitled Surgical Stapling Apparatus With Control Features Operable With One Hand to Steven G. Hall et al., Ser. No. 12/031,030;
(6) U.S. Patent Application entitled Surgical Stapling Apparatus With Retractable Firing Systems to Geoffrey C. Hueil et al., Ser. No. 12/030,974.
Endoscopic surgical instruments are often preferred over traditional open surgical devices since a smaller incision tends to reduce the post-operative recovery time and complications. Consequently, significant development has gone into a range of endoscopic surgical instruments that are suitable for precise placement of a distal end effector at a desired surgical site through a cannula of a trocar. These distal end effectors engage the tissue in a number of ways to achieve a diagnostic or therapeutic effect (e.g., endocutter, grasper, cutter, staplers, clip applier, access device, drug/gene therapy delivery device, and energy device using ultrasound, RF, laser, etc.).
Known surgical staplers include an end effector that simultaneously makes a longitudinal incision in tissue and applies lines of staples on opposing sides of the incision. The end effector includes a pair of cooperating jaw members that, if the instrument is intended for endoscopic or laparoscopic applications, are capable of passing through a cannula passageway. One of the jaw members receives a staple cartridge having at least two laterally spaced rows of staples. The other jaw member defines an anvil having staple-forming pockets aligned with the rows of staples in the cartridge. The instrument commonly includes a plurality of reciprocating wedges which, when driven distally, pass through openings in the staple cartridge and engage drivers supporting the staples to effect the firing of the staples toward the anvil.
Different types of surgical staplers suitable for endoscopic applications are known. For example, one type of surgical stapler employs a staple cartridge. The staple cartridge typically supports a plurality of staples oriented on both sides of a longitudinally extending slot in the cartridge body that is adapted to receive a cutting member that is driven longitudinally therethrough. As the cutting member is driven through the cartridge slot, the staples are driven upward into the anvil portion of the instrument. The cutting member may be supported on a driven member that comprises a portion of the instrument apart from the cartridge. Examples of those types of devices are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,905,057 to Jeffrey S. Swayze and Frederick E. Shelton, IV, entitled Surgical Stapling Instrument Incorporating a Firing Mechanism Having a Linked Rack Transmission and U.S. Pat. No. 7,083,075 to Jeffery S. Swayze, Frederick E. Shelton, IV, Kevin Ross Doll, and Douglas B. Hoffman entitled Multi-Stroke Mechanism With Automatic End of Stroke Retraction, the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entireties.
Other types of surgical stapling instruments are configured to operate with disposable loading units (DLU's) that are constructed to support a cartridge and knife assembly therein. Such devices that are designed to accommodate DLU's purport to offer the advantage of a “fresh” knife blade for each firing of the instrument. An example of such surgical stapling instrument and DLU arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,865,361 to Milliman et al., the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Depending upon the nature of the operation, it is often desirable to orient the DLU or end effector at an angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the shaft of the instrument. The transverse or non-axial movement of the DLU or end effector relative to the instrument shaft is often conventionally referred to as “articulation”. This articulated positioning permits the clinician to more easily engage tissue in some instances, such as behind an organ. In addition, articulated positioning advantageously allows a DLU or an endoscope to be positioned behind the end effector without being blocked by the instrument shaft.
Approaches to articulating a surgical stapling apparatus tend to be complicated by integrating control of the articulation along with the control of closing the end effector to clamp tissue and fire the end effector (i.e., stapling and severing) within the small diameter constraints of an endoscopic instrument. Generally, the three control motions are all transferred through the shaft as longitudinal translations. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,673,840 to Schulze et al., the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference, discloses an accordion-like articulation mechanism (“flex-neck”) that is articulated by selectively drawing back one of two connecting rods through the implement shaft, each rod offset respectively on opposite sides of the shaft centerline. The connecting rods ratchet through a series of discrete positions.
Another example of longitudinal control of an articulation mechanism is U.S. Pat. No. 5,865,361 that includes an articulation link offset from a camming pivot such that pushing or pulling longitudinal translation of the articulation link effects articulation to a respective side. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,537 discloses a similar rod passing through the shaft to effect articulation. Still other examples of articulatable surgical stapling devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,250,532 and 6,644,532.
Due to the types firing systems commonly employed in connection with DLU's, the actuator arrangements for articulating the DLU must often generate high amounts of torque to bend the firing structure. This problem is exacerbated by the lack of available space for accommodating actuating devices that are large enough to generate those required forces.
In an effort to address such challenges, surgical instruments with “passive articulation joints” have been developed. For example, U.S. Patent Publication No. US 2007/0027469 A1 to Kevin W. Smith, Matthew A. Palmer, Korey Robert Kline and Derek Dee Deville, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference, discloses a medical device that employs a passive articulation joint. When actuated, the articulation joint is released into a freely articulating state to permit free articulation of the end effector with respect to the control handle dependent upon external forces acting upon the end effector.
While the above-mentioned medical device with a passive articulation arrangement effectively addresses various challenges encountered with active articulation arrangements, there is still a need for a surgical cutting and stapling instrument that is configured to accommodate DLU's that has improved passive articulation joint arrangements.
There is still another need for a surgical cutting and stapling instrument that is configured to accommodate DLU's and has improved active articulation capabilities.